


Self-incrimination

by Legs (InsanityRule)



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 16:39:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6863788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsanityRule/pseuds/Legs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Definitely, can't argue that at all, but,” Nelson digs out his phone, “so, I asked Gary about this.”</p><p>“Your cellphone?”</p><p>“Hooli cellphone, and this stays with the company.” Gavin nods. “Right, it stays here, and I leave.”</p><p>“That is how that works, yes.”</p><p>“This is the phone you call the most, and text.” Again, he nods, and Nelson is going to need to thank him for not being condescending because it's not his fault Nelson isn't being clear, not entirely.</p><p>“You should make sure I have your other number once you turn over your phone.”</p><p>“Yes. But before I do, let me say that again. This is the phone you text. A lot. Which worked great for the whole, keep things under wraps plan we have, but like I said, you text this phone and sometimes those texts are, uh… Well we haven't exactly kept things PG and-”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Self-incrimination

“Twenty million?”

  


“It’s a generous offer, like I said.” Nelson nods, but only because he’s not sure he can manage anything else.

  


“ Is that, so what’s  _ normal  _ for a severance package? Like-”

  


“ Considering Hooli isn’t  _ normally  _ firing anybody, anything is unusual, but a person can expect about,” he hems a bit, “one year’s pay, maybe a year and a half considering performance at the time of termination.”

  


“Right,” Nelson starts trying to make some numbers add up, and fails miserably, “so me getting twenty-”

  


“ _ Extremely  _ generous.” Gary assures him, again, that this is a good deal. It's starting to sound like he's dreaming. “I would never  _ dream  _ of leaving Hooli, but if I was offered this severance, I would seriously consider the option.”

 

“Okay,” Nelson nods. “So, um, you said all that other stuff, about when, if-”

 

“Nelson, it's alright if you're considering leaving. This is about what's right for  _ you,  _ and your future.”

 

“Right, so when I accept, what happens to the stuff on my desk? Like, do I get to keep that or-”

 

“Anything that is your own property is, well, obviously it's yours and would go with you, but anything that is Hooli property has to stay with the company.” Gary indicates another portion of the severance paper Nelson was reading, apparently misreading, earlier. “It's all here if you want it in writing.”

 

Nelson grabs the paper and skims it until he finds the portion about Hooli property, which he gets, but he will miss that water droplet thing. Maybe he can-oh…

 

“My phone?”

 

“Right, you were given a Hooli cellphone when you received your promotions, but being Hooli property, it needs to stay here. You'll also need to confirm your unlock code so someone in our IT department can wipe it so the next person can use it without having to remove your old messages or contacts.”

 

Nelson is fairly certain his inner voice is screaming right now, but he does his best to nod along with Gary and at least  _ feign  _ agreement. “Cool, this is great, but can I take a lap?” He points with his thumb at the door. “You know, think things over?”

 

“Of course. We don't want anyone making any rash decisions. For when you do decide though, I think I'll start gathering your exit paperwork. Just in case.”

 

“Cool,” Nelson says over his shoulder as he hightails out of Gary's office and up towards Gavin's.

 

-

 

“Hey, you busy? I mean of course you're busy, but-”

 

“I'm in a bit of a lull for now, if you had something you wanted to talk about,” Gavin answers as he stacks away some forms and leans back in his chair. “What do you need, Nelson?”

 

“Oh, well I was with Gary, you know the HR guy, and he was discussing the severance package thing with me, which I have a ton of questions about but we can do that later,” he waves a hand, “not a big deal there. Super uh, you realize it's generous right? Nope, later, don't answer that. We should just go get coffee or something.”

 

“Of course. I think we can both agree that you'll be happier without the looming possibility of having to fill my shoes in the future.”

 

“Definitely, can't argue that at all, but,” Nelson digs out his phone, “so, I asked Gary about this.”

 

“Your cellphone?”

 

“ _ Hooli  _ cellphone, and this stays with the company.” Gavin nods. “Right, it stays  _ here,  _ and  _ I  _ leave.”

 

“That is how that works, yes.”

 

“This is the phone you call the most, and text.” Again, he nods, and Nelson is going to need to thank him for not being condescending because it's not his fault Nelson isn't being clear, not entirely.

 

“You should make sure I have your other number once you turn over your phone.”

 

“Yes. But before I do, let me say that again. This is the phone  _ you  _ text. A lot. Which worked great for the whole, keep things under wraps plan we have, but like I said,  _ you  _ text this phone  _ and  _ sometimes those texts are, uh… Well we haven't exactly kept things PG and-”

 

And there, he can see the realization slowly dawning on Gavin. “Shit.”

 

“Right. So, we should wipe this thing, right now.”

 

“Give me that,” Gavin reaches out. He taps a few times and scoffs. “Is your pass code really just a series of ones?”

 

“Does that _really_ matter anymore? Just, here, let me...” he takes his phone back, well not _his_ phone obviously because if that was the case this wouldn't be an issue right now, but either way he taps the one a few times and starts milling through his contacts and files. “I kind of want to back some of this up. Maybe use my flash drive or something.”

 

“Technically, with it being a Hooli phone...” Gavin trails off, “let's go down to the XYZ labs. You have a private office down there, right?”

 

-

 

Nelson busies himself with sorting through his desk and packing up a box with his things while Gavin calmly copies any incriminating photos (and the other photos Nelson's taken but they're not the issue) onto a flash drive. “You've amassed a fair number of photos for only having this phone for a couple months.”

 

“We went a lot of places,” he murmurs as he stashes his snacks into his backpack, “and I don't know, my dad really likes taking a lot of photos. He gave me a giant album last New Years. Said I should fill it up so I did. Still am, I guess.”

 

He knows there's also an awful lot of Gavin in those photos, and he's feeling a bit guilty at how easy it would have been for someone to discover their little secret if he'd ever lost his phone. “I keep it in my bedroom, the album. Bedside table drawer-”

 

“Nelson, you and I both know you don't tend to _entertain_ guests. And if you _were_ to do so, I doubt they'd go digging through your personal items.”

 

Nelson isn't so sure, but he doesn't voice this concern. “Yeah. And any uh, _racy_ stuff I can just keep in the table by my bed.” Gavin looks up at him from behind the monitor with a hefty amount of shock evident on his face. “Or not, I'm kidding, sorry.”

 

“Nelson, please,” Gavin waves him over, “I'm going to delete the photos off the phone now, and then it's up to you to delete texts and sign out of emails.”

 

“They're all backed up?”

 

“I considered deleting a few of the more… publicly indecent ones, but yes, they're all backed up.”

 

“Thanks,” Nelson accepts the flash drive and, after a bit of consideration, slips it into one of the zipper pockets of his jacket. “I swear I won't lose it.”

 

“That would be preferable.” Gavin leans back in the chair at Nelson's soon to be old desk and sighs, “if you want I could reset your phone to factory settings.”

 

“Yeah that could work,” Nelson starts logging out of his email, and he's about to delete the conversation thread with Gavin, clearly the most damning of all his threads, but a message from a day ago makes him pause. He starts scrolling back through the thread, flicking his thumb down to read the old messages.

 

“You're making a face.”

 

“Oh, well, it's just kind of a bummer,” he shrugs, “losing old messages.”

 

“It's not as if you spend time rereading them,” Nelson looks up, and notes the curious look on Gavin's face.

 

“I do, sometimes, when you're like, busy,” and he's feeling down, but Nelson doesn't feel like adding that part. It's probably obvious anyway. “I guess they'll still be on your phone though.”

 

“About that,” Gavin shifts in his chair, looking a bit uncomfortable, “if we're going to get rid of _any_ possibility that this goes public before absolutely necessary, I'm afraid I should _also_ delete my end of that thread. I've certainly made enough enemies that, in the wrong hands, a thread that can be traced back to your old Hooli number _could_ prove rather… enlightening.”

 

“...Right.”

 

He's glad Gavin doesn't try to convince him about this being the right call. Nelson's trying to keep their relationship a secret just as much as he is, maybe more for Richard's sake but also because he does _not_ want to see his severance (or anything else that's happened at Hooli recently) get scrutinized, and it's far safer to just get rid of a few silly texts and switch to his personal number for future messages.

 

“It's not as if we'll never say these things again.” Nelson nods. “You're still making that face.”

 

“I'm fine.” He hands Gavin the phone. “You can do the wipe right? I'll just-” he gestures to the door, “go finish up that exit paperwork.”

 

“Nelson-”

 

“I'll see you after work sometime.”

 

-

 

Nelson starts his second day without a job around eleven when his phone lights up by his bedside table. He slips his glasses on his face and fumbles around until he manages to unlock his phone and tap on his message app.

 

It isn't a number he recognizes, but the message is familiar. Shortly after he finishes reading it, he gets another, a familiar _reply_ to the message, one originally sent by himself.

 

“What did-” he taps on Gavin's name in his contacts and waits for an answer, “it is you, right? You didn't lose your phone?”

 

“I see they went through,” Gavin replies, a bit cryptically because he's probably in front of people, “I'll have you know I was up well past midnight setting up a script.”

 

“Right, coding,” of course Gavin isn't retyping all these messages by hand. “And the phone?”

 

“Everything has been completed. By the way, if you come to the campus you'll need a guest pass. I'm sure you would receive approval from security.”

 

“Yeah, sounds kind of cool, not having to work if I go back to Hooli,” not that he actually _did_ that much when he did work there, “Think I'll give it a few more days before I visit. Maybe a week.”

 

“I think I'd prefer _dinner,_ unless your plan is to distract me from getting any of my work done.”

 

“I think could manage that, I'll check my schedule.” His phone beeps again as another scripted message appears from the 'mystery' number, and Nelson grins. “See you then.”


End file.
